Crackpot Bob Continues to Insist on Carrying Stone Tablets into the New Covenant

Crackpot Bob of the improperly named "Continuing" Church of God has once again graced us with his latest missive, solemnly informing the world that the Apostle Paul didn’t do away with the Ten Commandments. As if anyone with a functioning New Testament was under the impression that Paul ran around with a chisel trying to erase the Decalogue. While Crackpot Bob correctly observes that Paul quoted and upheld God’s moral standards, his selective, proof-text-heavy presentation is the theological equivalent of a magician pulling rabbits out of a hat while ignoring the elephant in the room: the entire New Covenant.

Armstrongism’s Strict Law-Keeping Emphasis and Its Gloriously Ineffective Salvation Plan

Herbert W. Armstrong and his devoted followers proudly proclaim that real Christians must meticulously observe all Ten Commandments—especially that sacred Saturday Sabbath—plus Holy Days, clean/unclean meats, multiple tithes, and various other Old Covenant accessories. They treat this spiritual checklist as the indispensable key to salvation, spiritual maturity, and dodging divine wrath. Miss a Sabbath? Apparently, you’re on the fast track to the Great Tribulation and the licking flames of the Lake of Fire.

This heavy-duty legalism is nothing more than a recycled form of the very “yoke” the apostles fought so hard to keep off the necks of Gentile believers (Acts 15). And here’s the delicious irony: Armstrongism’s strict law-keeping cannot save anyone — not even a little bit. It’s spiritually impotent.

As the Bible so inconveniently states: 

For by grace you have been saved through faith… not of works, lest anyone should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). 

A man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ… for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified (Galatians 2:16).

Even if you could keep the law flawlessly (no one in the Churches of God ever has and never will), it still couldn’t save you. The law’s job is to expose sin and drive you to Christ, not to serve as your eternal to-do list for earning brownie points with God. Turning the gospel into “grace plus mandatory Sabbath-keeping plus Holy Days” isn’t just misguided — it’s the very “different gospel” Paul cursed in Galatians 1:6-9. But by all means, keep polishing those stone tablets.

Jesus’ Teachings: Affirmation and Fulfillment (Without the Legalistic Overkill)

Jesus affirmed the moral depth of the Ten Commandments but had the audacity to act like He was Lord over them. He boiled them down to loving God and loving your neighbor (Matthew 22:36-40) and then raised the bar to the heart level in the Sermon on the Mount.

On the Sabbath? Jesus casually healed people and let His disciples snack on grain, declaring, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27-28). Take that, rigid Sabbath police. Armstrongism’s obsessive elevation of Saturday rules above mercy must have given Jesus a headache.

Paul’s Balanced Teaching: The Law Is Good, But We Are Not Under It (Sorry, Bob)

Paul did call the law “holy, righteous, and good” (Romans 7:12) and used it to expose sin. Thiel loves quoting those parts. What he conveniently downplays are statements like

• Romans 6:14: “You are not under the law, but under grace.”
• Galatians 3:23-25: The law was a temporary guardian. Now that Christ has come… buh-bye.
• 2 Corinthians 3:3-9: The old stone-tablet covenant was a “ministry of death.” Ouch.
• Colossians 2:13-14: When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.

Crackpot Bob desperately tries to claim the “handwriting of requirements nailed to the cross” doesn’t include the Sabbath. Too bad the very next verses (Colossians 2:16-17) explicitly say not to let anyone judge you regarding… a Sabbath day. It’s a shadow. Christ is the reality. The mental gymnastics required to miss this are Olympic-level.

Paul even gave Christians freedom on sacred days (Romans 14:5-6). But sure, let’s pretend Paul’s synagogue visits were a binding command for all time instead of basic missionary work.

James’ Perspective: Moral Obedience Flows from True Faith (Not Checklist Religion)

James reminds us that loving your neighbor is the “royal law” and that faith without works is dead (James 2:8-11, 14-26). Excellent. But he never demands a return to the full Old Covenant package. Heart obedience, not Armstrong-style external scorekeeping.

Addressing Crackpot Bob's Key Errors

Crackpot Bob's article is a masterclass in cherry-picking. He waves around Paul’s moral exhortations while sprinting past the clear declarations of freedom from the law’s condemnation. His use of “all have sinned” actually proves his system’s failure: the law shows our bankruptcy, not the need for more law-keeping. The Jerusalem Council and the book of Hebrews (old covenant = “obsolete,” Hebrews 8:13) bury the Armstrongist position.

The New Testament does not throw out God’s righteous standards. Idolatry, murder, adultery, theft, lying, and coveting are still sins. Christians should live holy lives and practice regular worship and rest.

However, Armstrongism’s obsessive, burdensome demand for strict old-covenant law-keeping — with Saturday Sabbath as the ultimate loyalty test — is a theological disaster. It’s a system that cannot save, burdens consciences, distorts the gospel, and turns the liberating work of Christ into another exhausting religion of “do more, try harder.”

True New Covenant living is gloriously different: saved by grace through faith, empowered by the Holy Spirit to love God and neighbor. This actually fulfills the heart of the Ten Commandments far better than any legalistic checklist ever could. As Paul so elegantly put it, “Love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:10).

Believers should reject the heavy yokes that Crackpot Bob and Armstrongist groups so confidently peddle. These systems promise spiritual superiority but deliver only shadows and frustration. The reality is Christ. Walk in the Spirit, enjoy your freedom, and live out the royal law of love.

That’s the gospel. Not the one that requires you to earn what Jesus already accomplished.